This dissertation is comprised of three studies that define and subsequently evaluate different antecedents to STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) anxiety in elementary, secondary, and tertiary faculty. The literature review developed a framework of antecedents to anxiety in STEM classrooms or contexts. This was accomplished…

Context is the background or the settings of an event or idea. It is only when events or ideas are considered within the context in which they occur that they can be fully understood. In education, the application of knowledge communicated in one context to a different one is a central feature of learning. However, knowledge transfer can be…

Integrating decision-making learning goals within science classrooms has been increasingly common for science educators and researchers to help develop students' science literacy skills. These learning goals include understanding and applying scientific information as well as recognizing tradeoffs amongst multiple perspectives when decision-making…

Although many undergraduates begin college as STEM majors, attrition rates from the field are high and numerous reports suggest that evidence-based teaching methods are critical for retention. Despite educators' research and near consensus that active learning is more effective than lecture, there are many types of active learning and the…

This study addressed the problem of whether elementary school teachers are consistently implementing the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards in their pedagogical practices of teaching science. It was evident that half of all teachers in the United States do not consistently implement technology into their…

The authors demonstrate how teachers can scaffold instruction that invites students into the learning process by presenting engaging, relevant material. Employing five steps, the authors describe how to curate and sequence text sets: access learners' funds of knowledge, begin with the end in mind, consult the curriculum to determine areas that…

We extended research on scaffolds for formulating scientific hypotheses, namely the Hypothesis Scratchpad (HS), in the domain of relative density. The sample comprised of secondary school students who used three different configurations of the HS: Fully structured, containing all words needed to formulate a hypothesis in the domain of the study;…

Several predominant themes have emerged during the COVID-19 global pandemic that intersect with the nature and process of science. This paper identifies three such themes and briefly explores how they can be used as case studies and narrative cornerstones in teaching and learning. The themes include: (1) the understanding that science is…

This paper examines the affordances of physical objects (e.g. apparatus, models, manipulatives) as they were used by teachers and students to make meaning in coordination with their speech and gestures. Despite the pervasive use of physical objects as material and tactile resources in hands-on investigations or demonstrations, there have been few…

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) provide a rich and immersive context for introducing inquiry-based and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) into science classrooms. MUVES can have a significant effect on learning outcomes, however, illuminating how particular design features interact with those outcomes is an important area of investigation for…

Due to the advent of coronavirus disease in most nations throughout the world, the manner of education altered from traditional face-to-face to remote or online teaching. As a result, the new normal necessitates the adoption of an online teaching and learning platform for all levels of education. The study tested the effectiveness of a flipped…

This study aims to analyze the effect of e-learning based on the problem-based learning (PBL) model on students' creative thinking skills during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted using quasi-experimental design and pretest post-test control group design, which was conducted at As-Shofa Islamic Senior High School, Pekanbaru,…

Designing and interpreting controlled experiments are important inquiry skills addressed in many current science curricula. The relevant skills associated with the design and interpretation of controlled experiments are summarised under the term control-of-variables strategy (CVS). Research on elementary school students' CVS skills shows that they…

We present a modernization of the undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory experiment for determining the speed of sound in various gases from resonant frequencies in a spherical resonator. The resonator (schematic IR = 7.5 cm) is constructed by 3D printing with eco-friendly poly(lactic acid), a commercially viable alternative to traditional…

This study assesses the level of application of the 5E's educational model by Rwandan physics teachers and how the model affects the learning of basic classical mechanics in secondary school physics classrooms. For this analysis, quantitative data were collected using the classroom observation tool framed at the 5E's educational model. A sample of…